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The Society's French Syrah 2016

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A lovely, soft, fruity syrah from the Rhône Valley with just a hint of the freshly milled pepper which shines in pure expressions of the grape. Highly recommended, particularly to those who enjoyed Nicolas Perrin’s Cuve 12 last year - this is its natural successor!

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Producer Profile

Nicolas Perrin

Maison Nicolas Perrin was formed in 2009 when two families joined forces from opposite ends of the Rhône. Nicolas, from the famous Jaboulet family, grew up in the Hermitage hillsides in the north of the region, whereas the Perrin family has been settled in and around the southern Rhône’s Châteaneuf-du-Pape appellation (most notably at Château de Beaucastel) since 1909.

Nicolas Perrin classes itself as a 'boutique négociant', buying in casks of wines from well-known, respected northern Rhône growers. These are carefully blended by the team, and matured in oak casks to enhance both their character and their ageing potential. The aim of the finished product is fresh, harmonious whites and reds with sophisticated concentration.

Following French tradition, the distinctive terroir of each appellation is of the utmost importance to Nicolas Perrin. The company produces exclusively northern Rhône wines, sourced from growers whose vineyards benefit from the region’s typically granite soils and excellent exposure. Syrah is the only red grape present in its wines, whereas the white grapes used are the Rhône’s classic viognier, marsanne and roussanne varieties.

Nicolas Perrin wines range from inexpensive (but delicious) unclassified blends to the prestigious Côte-Rôtie. The company also helps The Society blend our Exhibition Crozes-Hermitage: Nicolas uses his extensive contacts to buy wines from a selection of renowned growers, and the wine is then blended and bottled by the Perrins.

Interestingly, Nicolas Perrin is particularly passionate about partnering its wines with food, so much so that it has collaborated with the head chef at Château de Beaucastel to research food and wine matching in greater depth.

Regional Note

Southern Rhône (excluding Chateauneuf)

Producing over 3.5m hl (hectolitres), this is the second biggest region for production of appellation contrôlée wine in France after Bordeaux. Most is red, though production of both white and pink is growing. Some 20 grape varieties are planted in the south though one in particular, Grenache, gives the region as a whole its identity: generosity, body, weight and a definite tendency to making big wines. More than half of the production is of Côtes-du-Rhône with the best sold as Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. Better still are the so-called crus led by Châteauneuf-du-Pape itself.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape: This large area to the north of Avignon makes the best wines of the south. Reds tend to be grenache based with syrah, mourvèdre and counoise also used. Few wines combine immense strength with perfect elegance quite so convincingly. Word of caution: Châteauneuf produces as much wine as the whole of the northern Rhône put together. A third is very good, a third acceptable and the last third, undrinkable.

Right bank: Villages include Tavel (rosé only) Lirac, Saint-Gervais and Laudun. There is more rain here but it is also hot and grapes are therefore early ripening. Most of the area lies in the département of the Gard and stretches from the river westwards towards Nîmes where at some ill-defined line in the soil, the Rhône becomes the Languedoc. This is an area that has much improved over the years and has become a valuable source for very fine, concentrated syrah wines in particular.

A little further on are the Costieres de Nimes, a large area of upland plateau, south-east of Nîmes. For the moment the Costières produces good everyday wines of good quality but there is potential to do much more.

Northern hills: There are fresh sub-alpine breezes at work here and as a result the wines often have a distinct freshness too. Just north of Orange is the largely wooded and isolated Massif d'Uchaux. Many of its star producers here are able to farm organically.

The three 'Vs' : Valréas, Visan and Vinsobres: These are three top neighbouring villages (with a 4th, Saint-Maurice broadly similar to Vinsobres). Vinsobres has full cru status and makes superb wine. Best names include Perrin, now the largest land owner and Domaine Jaume whose wines have been charming members since the 1979 vintage.

Valréas and Visan are planted on the same hill but tend to look north. Emmanuel Bouchard is one of the top names in Valréas. Adrien Fabre makes both outstanding examples of both Visan and Saint-Maurice.

Tricastin/Grignan-lès-Adhémar - The Tricastin is a much neglected part of the Rhône and coming down from the northern Rhône, these are the first vines one sees. It's a relatively cool area, far too cold for growing mourvèdre successfully, but the whites do very well and so does the syrah grape. The area has seen a name change as Tricastin is also the name of a power station on the river. The new name for the wines (which doesn't exactly trip off the tongue), is Grignan-lès-Adhémar.

Central hills - This includes the villages of Cairanne and Rasteau along with neighbouring Roaix. Big full-bodied wines, grenache dominated. Rasteau is all power and might while Cairanne is more deicate.

Plan de Dieu - Large flat expanse of pudding stones that seem to stretch as far as the eye can see, in the middle of which there is an airfield, (largely built for the Luftwaffe) surrounded by vines. Full-bodied style. Excellent for mourvèdre. Jaboulet are very good here as is the Meffre family.

Eastern fringes - Set against an iconic landscape with Mont Ventoux and the craggy Dentelles de Montmirail as the backdrop, some of these hillsides were first planted by the Romans and include some of the best-known names in the Rhône Valley.

Gigondas: Mountain wine, late harvested, always dramatic and very full-bodied though never coarse or overweight. These are generous reds, capable of long ageing. A little rosé is also made.

Vacqueyras: Next door to Gigondas yet different. Fruitier, a shade less powerful and more obviously charming:

Beaumes de Venise: The red is as full as Gigondas but rounder and less complex and this village is better known for its sweet muscat, a vin doux naturel and perfect for desserts.

Ventoux: At nearly 2000m this is some mountain which scores of cyclists are forced to conquer every year in the Tour de France. Its lower slopes are vineyard country though. Traditionally these were known as Côtes du Ventoux and were made and sold cheaply. Things are changing though with more estates cutting yields and making full and concentrated wine, not dissimilar to and better value than many Châteauneufs.

Food Matches

Reviews

Members' Reviews (8)

Average rating: 4.2 stars (7 ratings)

MOST HELPFUL MEMBERS' REVIEWS:

04-May-2018Mr David J Richards

"A very curious addition to the Society's range. Pleasant and interesting enough, nothing wrong with it, but not as complex as The Society's Côtes-du-Rhône. This is lightweight, one dimensional and fruity, whereas the CdR is richer and has more of the classic Rhone spice and pepperiness. The pricing is also odd, with this wine at £7.95 and the CdR slightly cheaper at £7.75. It leads one to suspect that this wine is aimed at those who do not understand their French regions and are more influenced by a grape name on the label. You don't need me to tell you which wine to order."

19-Apr-2018Mr Tom Rodger

"First bottle opened of latest order. Great value even without the £1 discount. White pepper finish and robust enough to work with BBQ. I had it with a mild curry and it worked really well. Definitely a great addition to the WS label. Label suggest serve slightly chilled but works well at room temp as well."

I would recommend this wine

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MOST RECENT MEMBERS' REVIEWS:

"Pure fresh tasting Syrah. Delicious. Pleasant nose though no great weight, length or complexity. Notwithstanding greatly enjoyed by this Northern Rhone Syrah lover who has (sadly) grown accustomed to spending much more. To me very good value."

"Bought a few bottles on off chance for a Fizz Friday canapé and supper party in case the excellent primitivo ran out after the Fizz and white. This was disappointing for a syrah. Too thin and simple for our taste. Have had much better similar wines at this price range."

"A very curious addition to the Society's range. Pleasant and interesting enough, nothing wrong with it, but not as complex as The Society's Côtes-du-Rhône. This is lightweight, one dimensional and fruity, whereas the CdR is richer and has more of the classic Rhone spice and pepperiness. The pricing is also odd, with this wine at £7.95 and the CdR slightly cheaper at £7.75. It leads one to suspect that this wine is aimed at those who do not understand their French regions and are more influenced by a grape name on the label. You don't need me to tell you which wine to order."

"First bottle opened of latest order. Great value even without the £1 discount. White pepper finish and robust enough to work with BBQ. I had it with a mild curry and it worked really well. Definitely a great addition to the WS label. Label suggest serve slightly chilled but works well at room temp as well."

We do moderate comments and reviews, purely to ensure that content published on The Wine Society's website is of value to members, and is fair and balanced. We're delighted to say that in the vast, vast majority of cases, our members' input is just that! We will normally approve comments for publication as long as they:

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Are reasonably concise, and don't constitute spamming of the website.

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If a review or comment does not meet the rules above, then we may remove it from the site, and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Where we choose not to publish a rating, comment or review for a reason other than those listed here, we will reply to the member concerned by e-mail explaining our reasons and inviting them to make appropriate changes so that their input can be reconsidered. We also reserve the right not to publish reviews that mention other wine merchants and competitors.

Your review and your name will be displayed on our website. We may wish to use your comments and ratings in our literature or elsewhere online. Unless you specify otherwise, you are therefore agreeing in posting your comments that The Society has the right to use, edit, publish in any media, delete and/or store the whole or any part or parts of that post, and may quote you by name, without charge and without reference to you or anyone else.

Guide to Closure Type

The Society's wine buyers work very closely with our suppliers to determine how best to seal our wines. We list below those closures currently in use with a brief description of each.

Cork, agglomerate

A technical cork made up of the remnants from the production of natural corks which are ground down into particles and cleaned and then combined using a food-grade polyurethane glue. A cheaper closure which The Society's buyers discourage suppliers from using.

Cork, colmate

A technical cork made from cheaper-grade natural cork where the naturally occurring pores are filled with ground down cork particles and then the whole is sealed with a food-grade wax coating. Generally only used for wines with a short shelf-life.

Cork, Diam

Diam corks look like agglomerate corks but are far superior and are designed to put an end to cork taint and random oxidation. The production process chops cork into pieces and sorts the superior, highly elastic, suberin component from the less elastic lignin, which is discarded. It mixes the suberin with microscopic spheres of the same substance used for contact lenses, which fills the voids between the cork particles reducing porosity to air and increasing elasticity without introducing humidity. Finally the pieces are mixed with a glue and moulded under pressure. The mechanical properties of the cork are guaranteed for a certain minimum number of years depending on the grade of cork - for example Diam 2 is guaranteed for two years; Diam 3, 5 and 10 are also available.

Champagne cork

The Champagne cork is 90% agglomerate made from cork off-cuts which are ground down, cleaned, compressed and then glued together with two disks of good quality natural cork glued onto the end which protrudes into the bottle.

Natural cork

Natural corks harvested from the cork oak (Quercus suber) forests in Spain and Portugal have been the closure of choice for wine for the 300 years. The bark of the cork oak is stripped from mature trees every nine years. The planks are stored and then cleaned and graded before the corks are punched out of the wood. For wines destined for long-ageing, high-grade natural corks are still the closure of choice.

Cork, plastic

Cost-effective synthetic 'corks' made from food-grade plastic with a silicone coating (similar to that used on natural corks). Generally used for wines for short-term cellaring.

Glass stopper

A glass stopper with a plastic 'O' ring which acts as an interface between the top of the bottle and the stopper, held in place by a metal, tamper-proof seal. Relatively expensive as a closure and not widely used. Can be removed by hand.

Stopper cork (ie sherry)

A short natural or agglomerate cork with a plastic or wooden top to enable the stopper to be removed by hand. Traditionally used for whiskies, sherries, Madeira etc.

Screwcap

Aluminium alloy screwcaps made with an expanded polyethylene wadding for the lining. Screwcaps are also known as ROTEs (roll-on tamper evident) or by the brand name (Stelvin is a popular brand). Widely used in Australia and New Zealand and for wines for short-term cellaring. Becoming increasingly sophisticated in terms of allowing differing levels of permeability so mimicking the properties of natural cork offering winemakers more choice depending of the style of wine being made. There is still a lack of sound data regarding the performance of screwcaps for longer-term cellaring.

Twin top

This is an agglomerate cork with a disk of good-quality natural cork adhered to both ends. A reasonably priced, reliable alternative to natural cork.

Crown cap

This is the metal pilfer-proof cap usually used to seal beer bottles but also used in the production of Champagne and sparkling wine when wines are stored under crown cap before the dosage is added. A few producers use crown caps to seal wine bottles. Open with a standard bottle opener.

May 2013

Jamie Goode has written an excellent book on the subject of closures for those wishing to find out more (Wine Bottle Closures, Flavour Press).

The Society includes the alcohol by volume percentage figure for each wine available online, in Lists and offers.

Alcohol by volume%

Units per standard bottle

14.5

10.9

14

10.5

13.5

10.1

13

9.7

12

9.0

11

8.25

10

7.5

9

6.75

It is generally accepted that alcohol levels in wine have been increasing in the last 20 years. There are many reasons why, but the single most important factor is the vast improvement in vineyard management techniques which have resulted in healthier, riper fruit being harvested. Alcohol is a by-product of the fermentation of sugars in the grapes and the best-quality wines are made from grapes that have reached physiological ripeness (colour, flavour and tannin), and this generally happens after sugar ripeness.

There are several techniques that can be used to reduce alcohol levels but currently most are intrusive and strip flavour as well as alcohol and we don't buy wines made in this way. In actual fact, more than half of our still table wines have an abv of 13% or less. Members looking to choose wines with lower levels of alcohol can now search our range by level of alcohol.

Excellent-quality wine is at the heart of everything we do at The Wine Society and balance is the single most important feature of quality. The interaction of a wine's main components of sugar, acidity, tannin, alcohol and flavour matter more than the actual level of alcohol. A well-made wine of 14.5%, for example, will taste more balanced than an inferior-quality wine with 10% alcohol. Furthermore, alcohol levels are only a guide to a wine's fullness: a 12.5% cabernet sauvignon may feel heavier and more full-bodied in the mouth than, say, a gamay of 13.5%. Members should refer to the wine's tasting note for a description of the style and fullness of the wine.

The Society is committed to promoting the responsible enjoyment of wines and spirits by providing relevant information to our members that allows them to make their own informed choices. An additional figure is beginning to be used on labels: the number of (UK) units of alcohol contained in that bottle. This is simply the alcohol by volume percentage multiplied by the content. Thus a 13% wine in a standard 75cl bottle will have 9.7 units of alcohol. All new labels of Society and Exhibition wines will include this information. drinkaware.co.uk

The Society's buyers provide recommended drink dates for all of our wines to help members decide the right time to pop the cork. As a general rule, most everyday white wines are best enjoyed within a year of purchase, and most everyday reds within two years. Certain fine wines, however, those with the right structure and balance, have the ability to evolve over time and gain complexity and finer nuances of flavour.

If the product page says:

...then our advice would be:

Drinking now

Should be drunk over the coming months, certainly within the year.

Now to...

Ready to drink now but will keep until the year shown.

Date range
(e.g. 2020-2042)

We recommend keeping longer before opening. For example, a wine will be ready to drink in 2020 but still young and will keep until 2042. It's a matter of personal taste when such wines should be drunk. Many members prefer to try the wines over many years from the opening drink date to the last to watch the wine evolve.

Within one year of purchase

A non-vintage wine that should be drunk within 12 months.

Within two years of purchase

A non-vintage wine that is ready now but will keep for two years.

Ageing fine wines

Savouring the wonderfully complex and intense bouquet and flavour of a wine drank at its peak is undoubtedly one of life's greatest pleasures. As with people, the ageing process will vary from wine to wine. Over the years the wine's primary aromas of fresh fruit will develop more complicated and persistent secondary and tertiary aromas. The fruity flavours of, for example, a premier cru white Burgundy will, over time, evolve buttery, toasty and yeast aromas, or fine reds may develop coffee, cedar, tobacco, vegetal, or even 'animal' flavours as they age.

When should wines with long drinking windows be opened?

There is much pleasure to be had by experimenting with bottles at different stages of maturity; finding out how a wine evolves with age and, perhaps more importantly, establishing your own preference in terms of taste for mature wine are all part of the interest and excitement of cellaring wine.

The drinking window we provide is a guide to when the wines will be at their best. Many will favour the wines in the youthful early stages of their development; others will enjoy the wines at their most mature.

Decanting is a useful way of softening the tannins, rounding out the flavours and releasing the potential of a young wine. To find out more please visit our Serving Wine guide.

Storing your wines with The Society

The Society's purpose-built, temperature-controlled Members' Reserves offers members access to optimum storage conditions for their wines.

Help and advice

For more help and advice about how best to enjoy your wines contact us via our enquiry form.

Oak In Wine

Oak plays a very important role in the production of wine throughout the world. However, the level of oak detectible in a wine can vary depending on a number of factors – for example, the age and size of the barrel and the type of oak used, as well as the length of time the wine is aged in wood. Oak also influences the structure and tannins of the final wine. For wines on our website, we use the following classifications:

No Oak Flavour

This suggests that a wine has either seen no oak at all, or may have been produced using very large, old oak barrels, resulting in a wine that has no taste of oak. Expect these wines to be crisp, fruit-forward and aromatic.

Light Oak Flavour

Some oak has been used in the production, yet it has not been a defining factor in the style of the wine. In this instance, the oak may have played more of a part in the structure of the wine but there will still be discreet flavours associated with the use of new oak.

Pronounced Oak Flavour

Wines that are defined by and known for their use of new oak. This must not be confused with a wine which is 'overly oaky' as that would purely be down to bad winemaking! We buy only wines that, we believe, use oak in a balanced and appealing way, enhancing flavour and complexity, and/or imparting structure.

The influence of oak age and barrel size:

How detectable oak is depends a good deal on the size of the barrel and how new it is. New oak provides a much more evident flavour and aroma and must be used carefully. The size of the barrel is important, as the smaller the barrel, the more surface area of the wine is in contact with the wood and the more flavour will be drawn out. Often, very large old oak barrels are used, which impart little or no oak flavour to the wine at all. They will still bring an extra dynamic to the final taste of a wine though, when compared to stainless steel or concrete vessels, as oak is porous and therefore lets a small amount of air into the barrel. This controlled oxidation has a positive effect on wines, softening the tannins and developing secondary flavours, all helping to add a complexity which comes with age.

5 STAR RATINGS FOR THIS PRODUCT

17-May-2019Dr Nigel J Brown

12-Aug-2018Mr J Richard Musgrave

19-Apr-2018Mr Tom Rodger

4 STAR RATINGS FOR THIS PRODUCT

30-Jan-2019Mr Peter Blackledge

20-Aug-2018Mr Kevin Hewitt

13-Jun-2018Mr Jon Connorton

3 STAR RATINGS FOR THIS PRODUCT

24-May-2018Mrs Leonie Harvey

2 STAR RATINGS FOR THIS PRODUCT

1 STAR RATINGS FOR THIS PRODUCT

There are many ways that people rate wines, whether it is on the 100 or 20 point scales, 5 stars, 3 glasses or simply thumbs up or down. The pleasure of a bottle of wine is hard to express in figures, but it does help give the memory of that wine a context, and a way of sharing your opinion with others.

In response to members' requests we have added a star rating option to the site so you can mark your favourites, or maybe those occasional less-than-welcome experiences, and make your next order easier.

You can use the 5-star rating tool to record your experiences however you wish, but if you are looking for some guidance we believe that a focus on the 'value' of the wine takes into account the quality but also the pleasure it provided, and whether it is something you would recommend to friends.

5 - Outstanding

An outstanding wine that, as well as giving you a great deal of drinking pleasure, was worth the money spent and should definitely be recommended to others.

4 - Very Good

A delicious, memorable, well-made wine that you're likely to recommend to others.

3 - Good

A good wine that left you feeling quite pleased with the value, and which you'd be happy to vouch for.

2 - Fair

Perhaps an unmemorable everyday wine or a disappointing fine wine – a wine that came across as a little awkward, or which was ok for some but one that you might think twice about buying again.

1 - Poor

A poor experience, maybe with something off-putting or faulty about it and one not worth buying again, or mentioning only to suggest others avoid it.